When I first stepped onto the Elijah Rising van, I had no idea how profoundly the experience would change my perspective on Houston—a city I thought I knew well. Like many Houstonians, I had driven past countless massage parlors, cantinas, and strip clubs without fully comprehending what might be happening behind their doors. The Origin...Read More

Sex trafficking is a devastating form of modern slavery that affects hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. As a pervasive issue in cities across America, including major hubs like Houston, understanding what sex trafficking is and how to recognize it can help save lives. What Is Sex Trafficking? Sex trafficking involves...Read More

Every organization working to combat human trafficking dreams of the day their services won’t be needed. At Elijah Rising, we’ve spent 2024 moving closer to that vision through direct action, community support, and faith-based healing. Join hosts David and Micah as they share inspiring stories of transformation from their anti-trafficking work in Houston, including milestone...Read More

David and Dawn from Elijah Rising discuss the P. Diddy trafficking case and use it to examine how coercion works in sex trafficking. They share insights from their frontline experience about: How traffickers use psychological manipulation Why victims often don’t recognize they’re being trafficked The role of drugs and blackmail in trafficking How the music...Read More

Elijah Rising’s origin story. We get asked all the time- how did you all get started fighting trafficking? The answer is that our first response to our increased awareness of trafficking was prayer. From there, we were quickly moved to action. Prayer has continued to be the foundation of everything we do at Elijah Rising....Read More

Before Tommy Broyles began serving as Elijah Rising’s Development Associate and grant writer, he worked in Asia with a nonprofit that served child trafficking survivors. In this episode, Tommy describes what it was like doing anti-trafficking work in Asia and the specific challenges they faced there. He also talks about the differences between serving in...Read More

In this episode, we dive into the details of a recent news story involving a teacher trafficking her students. We highlight the red flags in this story and common themes that we see in trafficking cases. This case is a classic example of traffickers preying young people in difficult, vulnerable situations. LINK TO NEWS ARTICLES:...Read More

We sat down with Joe Madison of Demand Disruption to look into the future of exploitation. Everyone is aware of the growing use and fast growing advancement of artificial intelligence. There is no doubt that technology will impact commercial sexual exploitation in a major way. In this episode we look at the role of technology...Read More

In this episode, we’re diving into the story of how Elijah Rising partnered with Joe Madison of Demand Disruption to prevent the first robot brothel from opening in the United States. When we stumbled upon plans to open a robot brothel in Houston—it raised some serious concerns. But this story isn’t just about one victory;...Read More

Our Interview w/ Leigh Kohler of the Freedom Church Alliance Churches often want to become involved in combating sex trafficking but lack the education and awareness to do so. Leigh Kohler leads the Freedom Church Alliance and they continuously develop and refine strategies to help the church be more effective in the fight against trafficking. This episode...Read More